Daily Dose of Common Sense

We’ve pretty much avoided commenting on the whole Jon & Kate train wreck. But, even we can’t resist this one. This photo is from the New York Post:

Yes, “penalty” is misspelled. And, apparently, he can’t spell his own name either. Now, I’m pretty sure Jon himself didn’t type this out. But, whoever did doesn’t know how to use spellcheck.

Egg, meet face. Face, egg.

People memorize many sayings in order to learn how to spell. Perhaps none are as well known as the ditty “i before e except after c.” This past week, the British government took steps to phase out this rule because they believe it is too confusing. A letter sent to thousands of primary schools said there are so many exceptions to this rule that it is “not worth teaching.”

“There are so few words where the ei spelling for the ee sounds follows the letter c that it is easier to learn the specific words.” These include receive, ceiling, perceive and deceit.

Yes, there are a lot of exemptions to this rule. But, I still find myself repeating it every now and again when writing without spell check on. The phrase is easy to remember and sticks with you. And, it’s frequently correct.

The other simple spelling rules just don’t have the same kind of zing. “Dropping Final E.” Yawn. “Doubling Final Consonants.” Snooze. “I before e” is the rock star of the group. It’s the one most people remember twenty years down the line.

The last thing we need is to make spelling more difficult. It’s already complicated enough. What’s next? Closing down Conjunction Junction?!

The word “irregardless” is a nuisance. Yes, some dictionaries do list the word. But, it is categorized as “nonstandard,” which means it’s not a proper term. All you need is the word “regardless.”

Why? Regardless already means “without regard.” Using the prefix “-ir” is redundant.

The prefix ir- (i-r) is a negative prefix, so if you add the prefix ir to a word that’s already negative like regardless, you’re making a double-negative word that literally means “without without regard.”

Some common phrases get repeated so often that we don’t even question the meaning. One hears it, assumes it’s correct and then repeats it. A good example of this is, “I could care less.” Well, if you could care less, then I guess it really doesn’t bother you.

Rather, the correct phrase is, “I couldn’t care less.” You are saying you could not care less about something. That means you care the littlest amount that you can possibly care. As in, “I couldn’t care less whether you like my work.”